Some countries have seasons dedicated to festivals. Ireland has an entire calendar. Kicking off in January and packing the months until December, festivals in Ireland are in the hundreds, and know exactly how to catch our attention.

Take the music ones. Some see international bands rocking exceptional outdoor venues like Slane Castle. Others host traditional musicians in intimate pubs or on remote islands such as Valentia and Arranmore. Then you have the foodie festivals. One will have you setting out on seafood safaris along the Wild Atlantic Way. Another sees casual cooks discuss dishes with artisan producers in a medieval city. There's even a little bit of everything packed into the likes of Belfast Festival Season for good measure.

One thing they all have in common? Fun.

Take your pick

It’s no secret that Ireland wears its literary heritage on its sleeve. Sometimes literally. Every June, James Joyce readers celebrate the author's masterpiece Ulysses by attending readings at select Dublin locations dressed in period costumes. Other notable events commemorating our most renowned wordsmiths include the Wilde Weekend in County Fermanagh.

There's also the Bram Stoker Festival which celebrates the Dublin-man behind Dracula with films, talks, readings, and a scare or three. It takes place every year during Dublin Festival Season (September - October), when the city hosts more festivals than any other time of the year.

But writers don't have the last word when it comes to Ireland's arts festivals.

Or you can take to the water. The Ballinamore Coarse Angling Festival in County Leitrim sees five days' coarse fishing in unspoiled lakelands. Not to mention the Irish Bass Festival, luring overseas anglers to the southern coastline of Ireland, the ‘Bass Mecca of Europe’.

For those who like their food, prepare to salivate over Ireland’s food festivals menu. Being an island means great seafood which means even greater seafood festivals. One is the Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival, a festival honoring “the first man bold enough to eat an oyster”, according to satirist Jonathan Swift. County Down’s Hillsborough Oyster Festival is another tasty event and is where the Guinness World Record for eating the most oysters was set by Colin Shirlow in 2005 – 233 in three minutes!